Hey guys, ill be moving to rancho cucamunga this summer and bringing my rx-7's with me. I am currently in the process of buildin a fun car to take to the track/drive. Atleast in wa state im allowed to do so cuz in my county there is no emissions. I am looking for info on what CAN be done to our cars within cali state laws. Ive put my project on hold until i can get some more info. I know there are emissions laws that make throwin exhausts and after market downpipes on our cars. are there ways around this, are there other laws i should be informed of?
At this point in time im am half and half on wether i should build this turbo project for street use, or purely track. I would sure like to be able to do both. Thanks for all the info

 

i suggest trying to keep it registered our of state.the smog and emmision laws r pretty strict and about 99.9% of rotary powered cars will not pass except for the older ones from 75 because thier smog exempt....

 

So what do i do about "getting is passed" if our cars are that hard to pass? Also. my dad will still be here in wa when i move. Will i have to register it to cali? or will i ever? Also i think i heard from a cop that within a year of residency you have to get a cali drivers liscence. I need residency so that i can pursue my schooling at a 4 year and get instate tuiton. Any information is great guys and thank you.

 

Look into keeping the car registered at your dad's address in WA. The only legal mod you can do to your car is a catback, unless a product is "CARB Certified." CARB stands for California Air Resources Board, and tests aftermarket products to see if they cause any more pollution than stock. Some K&N intakes, AEM intakes and some others are certified, but the vast majority aren't.

Laws here are very strict on modifying cars. If you want to get your car smogged illegally, that is basically the only way you can modify your car and keep it "legal" on the streets.

I'm here in Rancho Cucamonga too. Which 4 year are you looking into? When you move down here, join up with a meet. We have a "meet and greet" style meet here IN Rancho Cucamonga, and with a 20 minute drive down the freeway, theres a "meet and drive" style meet in San Bernardino. I go to both, so find our respective threads when you move down!

 

Wow i didnt think it affected other aftermarket parts. so no ones throwin on bigger turbo's, fmic ect on their cars down there? no streetports,bridgeports or other sexyness?
Thinkin i might go to fullerton. And i would def be down for some drives.

 

what is the exhaust exempt laws down there? how old does the car need to be? here in wa its 25 years.

 

All of my RX-7s have passed smog unless they're running a straight pipe. My FD passes smog with no problems and I have a catback and a downpipe. Still rockin' the stock cat and a stock intake. My old TII passed smog as well with an intake, stock cat, and racing beat exhaust. My sister's FC passes smog as well but its stock. All my previous FCs have passed with no problems as long as they had a cat and smog pump. No funky tricks are needed to pass smog although it's helpful to find a smog tech that wont fail you for having a shiny pipe.

 

We used to have a similar 25 year rolling exemption, but it stopped several years back, leaving it at 1975 and before. So no RX-7s are smog exempt here in CA.

Any and all aftermarket turbos will fail the visual inspection. FMICs I've heard mixed things about. And as long as your port job (streetport, bridgeport) passes the sniffer test, it will pass, because obviously a smog tech cannot visually see a port job.

 

thats shitty . basically all ya can do is put some wheels on and drive em then. v8 here i come.....so proboblly looks like ill just be trackin the car.

 

Go full race on one car and trailer it to the track. If I wasn't a poor college student I'd do it

 

You're going with a V8 swap then?

 

start re-investing on an old school instead of money pit RX-7 and stop flashing your $1 bills at *** bars

 

lol 67 elcamino here i come~! lol. yea gonna need to buy a trailer >.<. atleast 11.5 months out of the year you can go to the track lol. got a whole wopping 4-5 months in wa.

 

So what about coilovers and suspension work? does that fall under illegal mods, or does that mainly focus on motor work ect.

 

this is a hippy state that loves its prius' and hates anything modified.


i dont understand visual inspections.. if it passes the sniffer who cares if there's a shiny pipe in the engine bay.

 

I am also curious about the exhaust.
I just purchased a 1987 FC on sunday and did a visual inspection
in class today. Luckily I only need brake pads, an oil pan gasket, exhaust
and tires.

I have a rust through spot on my right muffler. I know this won't pass
visual, and I need to get it smogged soon. This week soon. Anybody know
if I can do straight piping from the cats back to cancel out the mufflers and
still pass smog? Or where can I get an exhaust system for a decent price?

enzo

seriously, if you can help me, text me at 909-731-9422 thanks

 

Keep your car registered out of state unless its a california smog exempt "kit car". Regardless if you have a CARB number or not, a cop can still pull you over, and slap a ticket and waste your time.

I refuse to give california my plates.

 

Yeah, coilovers and suspension are fine. CA is only checking your engine related stuff. Unless you're scraping your body around town, no police will care about your suspension or how low your car sits.

Why wouldn't a rusted through spot on the muffler not pass smog? It may be a little loud, but its not polluting any more than normal. Also, I don't think smog checks care how loud your car is, even if its over the limit.

I would appreciate it if someone could confirm with me on this though.

 

Miata, so are you a call resident? and how did you go about living in cali with out of state registration?
My dad will be in wa, my mom lives in cali. But after a year i plan to go to 4 year school in cali. Tryin to figure out how ya guys do that.

 

what does a "kit-car" mean, does it eff up your title or is that basically like saying hey i drive my track toy to the track.

 

A kit-car is a car that is almost completely disassembled and you put it together. One guy with an FD at Sevenstock XI last year shipped an FD from Japan in pieces. He imported it as a kit-car, put it back together, and now never has to smog it again.

 

Been in california for 13 years.

I drive my GT-R daily (for the most part for 1 year up till now) with no cat and HKS Hi-Power from irvine to torrance (80 miles round trip). I have florida plates because my car came in as a "kaizo kit car". I can get california plates if i want to and be smog exempt here too, but i have no desire to do so at the moment.

Keep your WA plates, and just have a good story if you get pulled over. Even easier, if you can have your dad on your registration, you can just say that it's his car (cops don't want to deal with these types of hassles).

 

I kept my FD registered to my parents in NY for the first 1.5 years that I lived in CA. I recently registered it here for various reasons. You need to register a car that belongs to you in CA within 30 days iirc (Google/visit CA dmv's web site to read the laws).

I will probably back out some of the more visible mods and try to make the mods that I do have less visible - no more shiny IC pipes and such. A V8 conversion can be legal if you decide to go that route if you keep the emissions.

 

a hybrid setup is pretty much the only 'legal' illegal mod... they are ***** about it.... gutted cats over straight pipe.... or drive your modified car and be ready to pay impound fees.... i dont even drive my car anymore because of it... i mean you could always run away from cops like in fast and the furious...

 

thanks for all the tips guys i appreciate all of them.

Damn shipping a car in peices. Theres a project for ya.
I could put my dad on the registration here in WA. i dont expect him to moving anytime soon. and even living in cali i would still spend alot of time in WA. So every year just mail in my registration to wa to renew?

For school purposes. to be a CA resident, are there ways to prove it other than having a CA drivers liscence? Or could i keep my WA liscence until it expires.

Jeeez i have a jillion questions.